Users will be able to start and stop films with a single swipe thanks to a long-awaited pause function that Meta is testing on Instagram Reels.
TakeAway Points:
- Meta is testing a highly requested pause feature with a small group of users on Instagram Reels.
- The new feature is the latest sign that Meta is looking to capitalize on TikTok’s uncertain future in the U.S.
- Previously, users have only been able to pause videos on Instagram Reels by tapping and holding on their screen.
Reels pause feature
Meta is testing a long-awaited pause feature on Instagram Reels that will allow users to start and stop videos with just one tap.
The new feature is the latest sign that Meta is looking to capitalize on TikTok’s uncertain future in the U.S. after it briefly went dark earlier this month. The popular short-form video app, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, could be banned for good on April 5 and is still unavailable on the Apple and Google app stores.
The pause feature is currently available to a small group of users around the globe, Meta said. The company was unable to specify when it will roll out more broadly.
Previously, Instagram users have only been able to pause videos on Instagram Reels by tapping and holding on their screen, requiring more work than simply tapping the screen to pause on TikTok. Previously, one tap on Instagram Reels would mute a video’s audio, but the video would continue to play. On Thursday, CNBC was able to pause Instagram Reels videos with a single tap.
Thousands of users have left comments and taken to other social media to lobby for a Reels pause button.
“Hello @instagram, can I please request a pause button on reels?? sincerely, a grieving former TikTok scroller,” one user posted on social media site X while TikTok was offline for a few hours in the U.S. earlier this month.
Besides the Reels pause button, Meta this month has announced a new video editing app called Edits that will compete directly with ByteDance’s CapCut editing app. Edits will launch in February, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a post.
Meta pays creators for promotion
Meta is also paying creators to promote Instagram on TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube Shorts and other short-form video platforms, as reported on Sunday.
Shares of Meta are up slightly on Thursday, a day after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on the top and bottom lines.
“We’re going to learn what’s going to happen with TikTok, and regardless of that, I expect Reels on Instagram and Facebook to continue growing,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a call with analysts Wednesday.
Instagram head Mosseri says app will prioritize original content
Earlier this month, Adam Mosseri, head of Meta’s Instagram, said Monday that the app will focus on prioritizing original and creative content in its algorithmic rankings in 2025.
His comments came in a video Mosseri posted outlining Instagram’s priorities for the year, which include improving social connections for users.
“Instagram was really founded on the idea of allowing anybody to share something creative that they were proud to share,” Mosseri said in the video, which was posted on Instagram and Meta’s Threads micro-blogging app. “We want to double down on that.”
